Beavers vs. Arizona Wildcats: Lots to love, a little to hate

Riley becomes winningest coach in Beaver history

It was a high flying showdown in the desert as the Beavers pull out a 38-35 win over the Wildcats.

Love ‘em

Offense does it all

As expected, this was a game for the offense to shine. And boy did they shine.

613 total yards, 433 through the air and 180 on the ground. 36:41 time of possession.

Leading the pack was once again quarterback Sean Mannion. After sitting out of last Monday’s practice with a sore shoulder, Mannion proved just how good he is. He had a career high 433 yards with three touchdowns. He did a great job spreading the ball around, getting six different receivers involved.

Also posting a career day was Storm Woods, who rushed for a career high 161 yards on 29 carries. He looked great all night, running like a man on a mission.

Rashaad Reynolds holds his own

I said in my pregame that the Wildcats were going to target Rashaad Reynolds a lot. When you play corner opposite of Jordan Poyer, it tends to happen.

But Reynolds held his own, having a standout day on defense. He compiled 10 tackles, a big interception and five pass breakups.

His interception came in the fourth quarter with seconds left in the game. It inevitably sealed the deal for Oregon State, giving them the ball and allowing them to rundown the clock.

Offensive line comes alive

Last week I talked about how the o-line played a great game, but still seemed to let too much pressure through.

You could see improvement this week, as they held their own all night long. They did let two sacks through, but Arizona was heavy blitzing a lot.

They also held up their running lanes, letting the team post a lot of yards on the ground.

Hate ‘em

Defense gets beat… a lot

After two dominating games, it looked like the Beavers might have one of the best defenses in the FBS. Then they squared off with Arizona.

Connor Hamlett seals the deal with this reception with 1:05 left in the game.

The D gave ‘Zona 545 offensive yards. After shutting down two of the best running games in the country, they allowed 142 rushing yards.

The secondary had some big plays, but gave up a lot of yards. The Wildcats have a great passing attack, but giving up 403 yards is a tough pill to swallow.

Special teams play so-so

In the NCAA you don’t have a lot of time to practice special teams, and it becomes all the more important because of that. The Beavs have been burned by this in season’s past.

It made an impact Saturday, as Trevor Romaine missed an easy one at the end of the first half. They were also challenged on the return game, compiling just 35 kickoff yards and zero punt yards.

Penalties again

This team is picking up too many penalties, and once again it makes the game way closer than it needs to be.

The Beavers are now last in the Pac-12, averaging over 90 penalty yards per game. They had 94 on Saturday, spanning 10 different calls.